Otters fall to Knights, finish with only 6 road wins

The Erie Otters head home for the final three games of the season after losing in London on Friday.

Times-News staff

LONDON, Ontario — On the bright side, the Erie Otters have no road games left in the season.

They dropped their final game away from Erie Insurance Arena on Friday, as rookie Richard Whittaker’s first Ontario Hockey League hat trick handed the Otters a 6-3 loss in front of 9,036 fans at Budweiser Gardens. The Otters (21-34-7-3) will conclude the season with only six wins in 34 road games. On this night, they stayed in contention for the wins until the Knights (37-23-2-2) scored twice late to seal their fourth straight win. Gera Poddubnyi led the way for the Otters with a goal and assist.

His goal 6 minutes, 11 seconds into the final period moved the Otters within 4-3. But Nathan Dunkley scored on a penalty shot to give the Knights a 5-3 lead. Then Whittaker, who entered the game with three goals in his first 60 career games, scored into an empty net with two minutes left to complete the scoring. Whittaker also added an assist for a four-point night.

Kyle Maksimovich scored his team-leading 29th win of the season for the Otters, while rookies Maxim Golod and Hayden Fowler had two assists apiece. Anand Oberoi allowed all six goals on 29 shots. Sergey Popov had a goal and assist for the Knights. Joseph Raaymakers made 26 saves on 29 shots.

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